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Elmira, Ontario, Canada | observerxtra.com | Volume 27 | Issue 06
-110
Arts | 14
Woolwich passes budget with 5.37% tax hike for 2022 Steve Kannon Observer Staff
WOOLWICH RESIDENTS WILL SEE A 5.37 per cent tax hike this year under a budget approved Monday night during an at-times contentious council session. That amounts to an extra $50, based on a
home with an average assessed value of $400,000. The budget includes an operating budget of $21,165,461, a 10 per cent increase from the 2021 budget, and capital spending of $25,541,316, up 18.6 per cent over what was budgeted last year. The tax increase
includes a 2.02 increase in the base level, a 2.5 per cent infrastructure levy and 0.85 per cent special levy for greening projects. Along with the tax hikes, the township is expecting revenues from new assessment to grow by 4.3 per cent, money rolled into this year’s increased expenditures.
Typically set at 1.5 per cent, the infrastructure levy was increased after council determined the township continues to fall behind on needed improvements to the likes of roads and bridges. A plan to borrow money to pay for one infrastructure project in particular – the rehabilitation of
the Peel Street bridge in Winterbourne – proved to be a major stumbling block, prompting Couns. Murray Martin and Larry Shantz to vote against the budget. The final tally followed Coun. Patrick Merlihan’s opting to vote in favour of the budget despite reservations in order to preserve the
project. Both Martin and Shantz had pressed to defer the project, which will convert the century-old structure into a pedestrian crossing. “It’s not a good investment,” said Martin, who suggested a new bridge open to vehicular traffic → BUDGET 5
Wellesley launches campaign for new recreation centre Committee looking to raise $2.5 million of $27 million cost for multi-use facility Steve Kannon Observer Staff
Emergency crews responded to Listowel and Floradale roads near Elmira Feb. 3 after a van went off the road and rolled over in a ditch. High winds and icy roads were a factor. No one was injured. Justine Fraser
THE CONTRACT AWARDED TO BUILD the new Wellesley Township Recreation Centre, the committee charged with raising the community’s portion of the $27-million price tag has now launched its campaign. “There are two campaign goals. The first is to raise $2.5 million to offset the township’s costs. The second is to foster community ownership in the project. We’re confident we’ll meet both goals, and maybe even exceed them,” said campaign
chair Chris Martin. The first phase of the fundraising drive will see the committee approaching potential larger donors such as township businesses before moving onto direct appeals to the general public in the summer. With a slogan of “something for everyone,” the fundraising drive is accentuating the wide variety of facilities and programs that will be on offer at the new township centre. Along with an NHL-sized rink, the 62,000-square-foot facility at Queens Bush and → CAMPAIGN 5
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